MAKASSAR – Chairwoman of the Makassar City Dekranasda, Indira Yusuf Ismail, has reaffirmed her commitment to boost the growth of local MSMEs to compete in the global market.
She conveyed it when opening the “Innovation and Opportunities for Local Culinary and Fashion MSMEs to Adapt to Global Trends” event initiated by the Makassar City Cooperative and Small and Medium Enterprises Office, at Makassar City Hall, Thursday (19/8/2024).
The event was attended by more than 300 MSME actors focusing on the culinary and fashion sectors, who were ready to learn new innovation strategies.
In her speech, Indira highlighted the importance of the Cooperative Office’s role in fostering and developing MSMEs in Makassar.
She emphasized that this kind of training is very relevant to ensure MSMEs continue to progress and adapt to changing trends.
According to her, innovation is key to optimizing the potential of MSMEs to be more competitive in the international market.
“We are gathered here with the Cooperative Office which is certainly always trying to foster and develop all MSMEs in Makassar city,” she said.
Indira also highlighted the culinary sector that has become Makassar’s strong identity as a city with delicious food.
She mentioned that the city’s branding as the City of Good Eats is already quite strong. But there is still room for culinary innovation to stand out at the global level.
In addition, she emphasized the importance of the relevance of this training to have a real impact on MSME actors.
“Especially in the culinary field, Makassar is famous for all its food. There is nothing that is not delicious. We have many extraordinary culinary delights. Coto, konro pallubasa, sop sodara, satay, and so on. And all of that is amazing. But now there are also many innovations in this field,” she said.
In addition to the culinary sector, Indira also paid special attention to the fashion sector. She emphasized that local fashion must continue to be developed with a touch of local wisdom in order to compete with global trends.
Batik Lontara, one of Makassar’s proudest products, needs to be elevated through design innovation and proper classification.
“For fashion, we develop Makassar fashion with local wisdom. Makassar already has Batik Lontara, but I think there must be a special development for it,” she explained.
She also mentioned the importance of the Incubator Centre owned by the Makassar Cooperative Office. According to her, it is an extraordinary facility that can help MSMEs learn and develop their potential.
“The Incubator Center is very extraordinary. I am certainly very grateful to the Cooperative Office that we have a place where everyone can actually learn and can get knowledge from,” she said.
Closing her speech, Indira invited all MSME actors to continue to explore innovations in order to face global trends.
She has a vision to make Makassar a center for local fashion that has a unique character and does not just passively follow global trends.
She hopes Makassar’s fashion sector can compete on the international stage with the strength of local identity.
“We are learning here to have our own innovation, so that we will be ready to make Makassar Fashion Week. We do not follow the crowd but we have our own character,” she concluded.
